Is it worth learning openings?
Sort:
You should be familiar with various openings since you can then make the best moves easily. Also it helps to learn about openings to learn the general strategies and basic rules of the opening phase. So don’t try learning every opening by heart but rather understand why each move is effective and try implementing those strategies into your routine
It might be worthwhile to look at some games in a book like Starting Out: The Sicilian by GM John Emms (2009).
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627122350/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen123.pdf
On the other hand, I do not get the impression that you are facing any great sophistication in the opening play of your opponents.
Chess Openings Resources for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/openings-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell
Dec 17, 2019
0
#5
When you "tend to play the four knights opening", you "tend" to play open games.
This is maybe the only realm of chess where you can not afford not knowing at least some respective opening theory – especially the open games are infamous for their abundance of early opening traps and early complications you would not want to master on first sight on the board with the clock ticking next to you.
Dec 17, 2019
0
#6
It's possible your rating is inflated a bit because you only play blitz and you make a lot of inferior moves to gain time. Your better off unlearning the bad habit's you learned by only playing blitz (moving pawns on the side of the board for no apparent reason, moving knights to inferior squares and moving them back and forth for no apparent reason, etc), rather than learning an opening repertoire. Your opening is good enough for your level. It's not the opening that lost you that game. Even after making all the bad moves you played you could have won if you didn't trust your opponent by not taking the knight when you could have. It was a bluff sacrifice.
Michael_Kreuziger wrote:
You should be familiar with various openings since you can then make the best moves easily. Also it helps to learn about openings to learn the general strategies and basic rules of the opening phase. So don’t try learning every opening by heart but rather understand why each move is effective and try implementing those strategies into your routine
A very good answer!
Dec 17, 2019
0
#9
From my point of view, now you're around that level when it begins to be useful to learn openings.
When I said "learn" i meant understanding opening ideas and typical plans. Where each piece belongs. What are most frequent responses by your opponents and typical mistakes, etc...
ethan31415926535 wrote:
... I was just wondering if it is worth it to learn openings as I feel like my weaknesses are the mid-end game and maintaining tempo of an attack rather than the early game/opening. But for all I know (which when it comes to chess is not much) not knowing various openings might be the cause for these weaknesses. ...
I don't think that openings are a major factor in your games, but it might help to look at Discovering Chess Openings.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
I do not get the feeling that learning openings is going to enable you to play "best moves" very often, because your opponents don't seem to be playing book moves very much and you are mostly facing positions that are not in the opening books. On the other hand, it might help to play over the illustrative games in an opening book with a focus on such games. I am thinking of books like First Steps 1 e4 e5
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7790.pdf
https://chesscafe.com/book-reviews/first-steps-1-e4-e5-by-john-emms/
and My First Chess Opening Repertoire for White.
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9033.pdf
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/vincent-moret/
As you seem to realize, chess is not just about openings. Here are some reading possibilities with more of a focus on other matters:
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1948)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf
Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233537/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review585.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-back-to-basics-tactics
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5856bd64ff7c50433c3803db/t/5895fc0ca5790af7895297e4/1486224396755/btbtactics2excerpt.pdf
"... Sure, fast games are fine for practicing openings (not the most important part of the game for most players) and possibly developing decent board vision and tactical 'shots', but the kind of thinking it takes to plan, evaluate, play long endgames, and find deep combinations is just not possible in quick chess. … for serious improvement ... consistently play many slow games to practice good thinking habits. ... I know that a large percentage of my readers almost exclusively play on the internet - after all, you are reading this on the internet, right!? But there is a strong case for at least augmenting internet play with some OTB play, whether in a club or, better yet, a tournament. ... I would guess that players who have never played OTB usually gain 50-100 points of playing strength just from competing in their first long weekend tournament, assuming they play five or more rounds of very slow chess. ... Don't have two day? Try a one-day quad (a round-robin among four similarly rated players). ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627052239/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman16.pdf
I think you're rating is quite high for a newcomer. I am out of the subject but did you play chess before? You had nearly 150 games and you beat many 1400 players.
great thread. new guy here and will start learning some openings.
I think the problem is that even on very low levels some opponents try to get better by memorizing openings. One likely gets into worse positions against such opponents. So for me it's okay to know a little bit about the sicilian, french, etc. when playing 1.e4. Not tons of theory, just 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there for starters and then improving every game one plays.
I would suggest learning good opening principles either by getting a book that talks about opening principles or observing games from 1800-1900 off a database and seeing how they play. The rest is about seeing what kind of mistakes you make and learning to eliminate them. Good luck.
"... It is difficult to apply the right principle in the heat of battle, especially when it conflicts with another principle. When is a violation of principle acceptable and when is it not? We acquire positional judgment by studying master games. …" - GM Larry Evans (1974)
Many 21st century opening books are largely collections of games, explained for the near-beginner.
"This book aims to teach the basics of chess without assuming any prior knowledge of the game. … In this book, every game and game extract is from after 1900 (indeed, only two are earlier than 1950). … there is no reason why players should not be exposed to contemporary chess thought from the beginning. ..." - GM John Nunn (2010)
At the moment I haven't learnt any openings (though I have realised that I tend to play the four knights opening). I was just wondering if it is worth it to learn openings as I feel like my weaknesses are the mid-end game and maintaining tempo of an attack rather than the early game/opening. But for all I know (which when it comes to chess is not much) not knowing various openings might be the cause for these weaknesses.
Thanks, Ethan.